Minnesota Vikings 2020 seventh-round pick quarterback Nate Stanley could have cashed out this week.
The Menomonie, Wis., native had something incoming veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson, who was signed in free agency last month, has wanted his whole career.
The No. 7.
Certain players have received pricey vacations, cars, steak dinners and even $50,000 for giving up their number to a future teammate.
Stanley, instead, looked to use his leverage to help his hometown.
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Patrick Peterson’s Donation to Menomonie High School
After NFL owners approved a rule change to lift position restrictions on numbers earlier this week, Peterson unveiled his official Vikings jersey on the All Things Covered podcast on Sunday.
Paying homage to his playing days at LSU, Peterson will wear No. 7 in purple and gold, the number he wore through college and high school.
The Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson reported that Stanley spoke with his former high school football coach Joe Labuda on Sunday night and “was arranging for about 10 pairs of shoulder pads to be donated.”
“It’s a great gesture on Nate’s part,” LaBuda said, per Tomasson. “He said he just wanted to help out the program.”
The donation is worth several thousand dollars for 10 new shoulder pads that Labuda said are needed.
“We have a lot of them that have been here for a long time, some of them 15 years, 10 years,” LaBuda added. “A lot of them have been to the point where they need to be replaced.”
There likely won’t be many other jersey number changes for the Vikings this offseason as players are required to buy out the existing stock of licensed jerseys of their previous number before they can switch. The cost for Dalvin Cook to change his number would have been roughly $1.5 million, Tomasson reported.
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Vikings Own Most Ridiculous Jersey Swap Deal
While stories have surfaced around the NFL detailing flashy jersey swap deals between players, former Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb’s deal with punter Chris Kluwe is the most ridiculous yet charitable exchange.
When the Vikings signed McNabb in 2011, the former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback wanted the No. 5 from Kluwe. Kluwe requested that McNabb would have to name drop Kluwe’s band in press conferences and take him out for an ice cream cone along with donating $5,000 to Kluwe’s charity.
McNabb eventually lost his starting job and was released midseason that year before paying his donation or taking Kluwe out for ice cream. It became a vulturous pecking point of McNabb’s brief stint in Minnesota, which Kluwe took the blame for not asking McNabb during the season.
“He was more than willing to donate the check,” Kluwe said, per NFL.com. “Like I said, I had never gotten a chance to ask him for it. I was planning on doing it at the end of the season. So he’s going to send the check to Kick for a Cure.”
McNabb and Kluwe did eventually get ice cream together, but four years after McNabb left Minnesota.
Here’s an interview of Kluwe detailing how the deal played out.
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Patrick Peterson & Vikings QB Strike Generous Deal for Jersey Number